Amphibious vehicle with auxiliary floating elements

ABSTRACT

Amphibious vehicle with lateral auxiliary floating elements which are of rigid construction and pivotable about joints at the upper lateral edge of the floating body of the vehicle and are linked on only at their two ends and equipped there with spacing members relative to the joints, which when the lateral floating elements are tilted upwardly provide a space over the deck of the main floating body which they cover which is of the extent thereof in horizontal direction and of a height determined by the spacing elements.

[ Feb. 22, 1972 AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE WITH AUXILIARY FLOATING ELEMENTS [72] Inventor: Hermann Walter Gehlen, Pinnasenser Strasse 60, Kaiserslautern Pfalz, Germany [22] Filed: Nov. 14, I969 [21] App1.No.: 876,855

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 14, 1969 Germany ..P 19 24 613.0

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,446,176 5/1969 Grange et a1. ..115/1 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,111,048 7/1961 Germany ..115/1 864,857 4/1961 Great Britain ..1 15/] 922,145 3/1963 Great Britain ..1 15/1 8 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-F. K. Yee AttorneyRobert 1-I. Jacob [57] ABSTRACT Amphibious vehicle with lateral auxiliary floating elements which are of rigid construction and pivotable about joints at the upper lateral edge of the floating body of the vehicle and are linked on only at their two ends and equipped there with spacing members relative to the joints, which when the lateral floating elements are tilted upwardly provide a space over the deck of the main floating body which they cover which is of the extent thereof in horizontal direction and of a height determined by the spacing elements.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENIEnrwzz 1922 3,643,618

SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTOR. HERMAN/V WALTER GEHLEIV PATENTEnrwzz m2 3.643.618

SHEET 3 OF 3 INVEN TOR. HERMAN/V WALTER GEHLEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to amphibious vehicles and is particularly concerned with an amphibious vehicle that has auxiliary floating elements which are rigidly constructed and pivotable about joints at the upper lateral edge of the deck of the vehi- I cle.

Among known amphibious vehicles having auxiliary floating elements there are those where the auxiliary floating elements have walls of elastic material that can be blown up and those having rigid auxiliary floating elements.

The auxiliary floating elements that can be blown up may be placed against the side walls of the main floating body in deflated condition or into recesses in the same and if desired, they may be covered. Thus as the vehicle is transported on land they do not require space wither laterally of the main body or on the deck thereof, the space over the deck thus is available without limit for any desired deck structures and equipment components such as runway elements for a floating bridge, ramp members, etc., and as the case may be also for cargo or loads. However, this calls for a certain amount of time until the auxiliary floating elements are blown up and can be deployed. Besides they are relatively easily damaged and as the air escapes, they lose their buoyancy. Finally they develop their full carrying capacity only as the depth of immersion increases because they are of circular or substantially circular cross section.

For travel on land the rigid floating elements have to be accommodated in some manner above the deck of the main floating body because otherwise the travelling width of the vehicle would be too great. They may be pivotally linked to the upper lateral edge of the deck of the main floating body as already known and as mentioned above. Rigid auxiliary floating elements are substantially less sensitive against damage than the aforementioned inflatable lateral floating elements and also, if their wall is torn, they hardly lose buoyance if they are filled with rigid foam material which can be accomplished in a simple manner. However they occupy the space above the deck of the main floating body in tilted up position during the transport on land. Accordingly, in a known amphibious vehicle of this type the attempt was made to provide relief by having recesses in the rigid lateral floating elements in which additional existing ramp parts are accommodated during travel on land that are necessary for deploying the vehicle. These ramp parts support themselves on the lateral auxiliary floating element during deployment so that they absorb considerable forces and transfer moments which presupposes a correspondingly stable construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention in connection with an amphibious vehicle having rigid lateral floating elements to provide means and ways that permit having the deck of the main floating element free as is the case with the amphibious vehicles having inflatable lateral auxiliary floating elements and this in a rectangular space over the entire deck surface so that the vehicle may be equipped with any desired additional structural components, such as for example pivotable runway elements for a floating bridge to be constructed or that the deck is available entirely as a loading surface such as is the case with vehicles having inflatable lateral floating elements.

In accordance with the invention the problem is solved by an amphibious vehicle having lateral floating elements that are rigidly constructed and pivotable about points at the upper lateral edge of the main floating body of the vehicle while these rigid lateral floating elements are only linked on at their two ends and there equipped with spacing members relative to the joints which as the lateral floating elements are tilted up provide a rectangular free space corresponding to the size of the deck of the the main floating body which is covered at the top by the lateral floating elements.

It is now possible to provide in this space additional vehicle parts of any desired form, such as runway elements, ramp components, combinations of the same, or also useful loads, without the rigid lateral floating elements having any cumbersome effect.

Thus the vehicle in accordance with the invention provides on the one hand the advantages of known vehicles with inflatable lateral floating elements and on the other hand the advantages of the vehicles having rigid lateral floating elements while the shortcomings of both are avoided.

The lateral floating elements may be turned with a lever arrangement by means of hydraulic cylinders. Furthermore, they have means for latching them in their unfolded floating position.

In the space thus created on the deck there may be arranged, for example, and preferably, a runway ramp combination pivotally movable about a vertically disposed central axis which makes possible far reaching deployment of the vehicle as a bridge vehicle, as a bridge end vehicle and as a ferry if desired, also as a bridge for overcoming different kinds of terrain obstructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further features of the invention and details of the advantages provided thereby will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the vehicle in accordance with the invention schematically illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the vehicle in land travel condition;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a front view likewise for the land travel condition, and

FIG. 4 shows the vehicle in the condition for water travel with the lateral floating elements unfolded.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The amphibious vehicle has a main floating body 1 of pontoon shape which is at the same time the vehicle body. This vehicle body has wheels 2 for movement on land and for example, a rudder propeller or outboard drive 3 for propulsion in the water.

At the upper lateral edges of the main floating body 1 the rigid lateral floating elements 4, 5 in accordance with the invention are linked on only by joints 6 and 7 at the two ends of the lateral floating element and proximate the corresponding ends of the floating body. Between the joints 6 or 7 and the lateral floating bodies 4 and 5 spacing members 8 and 9 are interposed which with the lateral floating elements 4 and 5 in tilted up condition take care that between the deck 10 of the main floating body 1 and the tilted up lateral floating elements 4 and 5 a rectangular space 1 1 is formed that extends over the entire surface of the deck 10 which is available, for example and preferably for any desired deck structures of the vehicle.

For tilting over the lateral floats 4 and 5 hydraulic cylinders 12 are provided which act by way of the lever combination 13 upon the spacing elements 8 and 9. q

The lateral floating elements 4 and 5 are equipped with lateral projections 14 that engage corresponding recesses 15 in the lateral walls of the main floating body 1 and there can be latched by suitable means.

In the vehicle illustrated there is provided, for example, a runway ramp combination which is linked to center part 16 that is pivotable about a vertical center axis and comprises in particular runway or ramp components 17 and 18 on the one side and 19 and 20 at the other side which can be actuated by hydraulic cylinders 21. The runway ramp combination may be of a type as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,544. When such a runway or ramp combination is provided the lateral floating elements serve merely the purpose of increasing the buoyancy of the vehicles. They must, however, not be employed as is the case with known vehicles, with rigid lateral floating members for supporting the runway or ramp plates. Accordingly, they may be made substantially lighter than with those known vehicles.

In the same manner any desired deck structures may be accommodated in the space created above the deck of the main floating body 1, while they and the lateral floats 4 and 5 do not interfere with each other.

Having now described my invention with reference to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, what I desire to protect by letters patent of the United States is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Amphibious vehicle comprising a vehicle body which constitutes a main floating element and presents a deck and auxiliary floating elements disposed laterally of said body, pivot joints at the upper lateral edges at opposite ends of said vehicle body and opposite ends of said floating elements, said floating elements being rigid structures, spacing members between said pivot joints and said floating elements which with said floating elements in raised position above the deck of said main floating body define a free rectangular space above the deck of the entire vehicle body having horizontal dimensions corresponding generally to the surface area of the deck and of a length corresponding to the distance between said spacing members, and vertical limits defined by said floating elements.

2. Amphibious vehicle in accordance with claim 1, including a runway and ramp combination pivotal about a vertical axis located centrally of said deck, said space between said deck and the floating elements when folded over said deck being of dimensions to accommodate said combination. 

1. Amphibious vehicle comprising a vehicle body which constitutes a main floating element and presents a deck and auxiliary floating elements disposed laterally of said body, pivot joints at the upper lateral edges at opposite ends of said vehicle body and opposite ends of said floating elements, said floating elements being rigid structures, spacing members between said pivot joints and said floating elements which with said floating elements in raised position above the deck of said main floating body define a free rectangular space above the deck of the entire vehicle body having horizontal dimensions corresponding generally to the surface area of the deck and of a length corresponding to the distance between said spacing members, and vertical limits defined by said floating elements.
 2. Amphibious vehicle in accordance with claim 1, including a runway and ramp combination pivotal about a vertical axis located centrally of said deck, said space between said deck and the floating elements when folded over said deck being of dimensions to accommodate said combination. 